Ineffective for recovering files on solid-state drives. Some features less useful than others.

Bottom Line

If you have Mac with a traditional hard drive, Disk Drill Pro offers one of the most advanced data recovery utilities available.

If you've ever accidently saved over a document or deleted a presentation, you know the pain that comes with losing a file. CleverFiles Disk Drill Pro ($89) turns back that clock. The data recovery utility scans a desktop's hard drive—and any external drives connected to it—in order to retrieve and reconstruct lost files. Thanks to exceptionally thorough scanning and vast signature support, it returns a trove of results that you can winnow with advanced filters. Like its peers, Disk Drill won't be of much service if your computer uses a solid-state drive, and the Windows version is less feature-rich than its sibling on the Mac (which I tested). But if you have an Apple computer with a traditional hard drive, Disk Drill Pro offers one of the most advanced data recovery utilities available.

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Options and Pricing

DiskDrill Basic compares favorably with other try-before-you-buy options: In addition to allowing you to verify recoverable data, Basic also allows you to back up failing disks and to recover protected data. At $89, the Pro version, which I tested, is more affordable than competitors, which retail between $99 and $119. CleverFiles also offers 20 percent discounts for education, non-profit, and government workers, and lifetime upgrades for a sensible $29. Installable on three desktops, the utility's license is less generous than DiskWarrior (unlimited) and Data Rescue (five desktops), but more straightforward than Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery 7 (one transferable) or the Seagate Premium File Recovery Suite 2.5 (one desktop, 24 recoveries or one year).

Finally, CleverFiles offers enterprise licensing (for $399), which can be installed on an unlimited number of desktops. While Disk Drill is a relatively small outfit that lacks dedicated recovery (as with Seagate or Prosoft), the enterprise version of the software allows users to export forensic data (DFXML) for further analysis.

Those with older Macs should also note that the latest version of Disk Drill requires OS X 10.8.5 or later, which would have come preinstalled with any Apple computer purchased after the fall of 2013. People running older desktops can use an earlier version of Disk Drill or consider Seagate or DiskWarrior, which offer more generous legacy support. Windows users should also note that the Mac version is more feature-rich.

The Testing Grounds

I tested Disk Drill alongside four other recovery utilities using two Macs: an early-2015 MacBook Pro and a late-2014 Mac Mini. Both systems run the same version of macOS Sierra. The MacBook Pro features a 120GB solid-state drive (SSD), whereas the Mac Mini uses a 500GB hard disk drive (HDD). To ensure uniform testing, I deleted the same files on both machines two weeks prior to testing. In the interest of testing real world usage, I selected six common file types (DOC, XLS, PDF, JPG, MP3, and MP4).

While I will also discuss some of the utility's unique features, this review focuses on file recovery. Disk Drill offers numerous types of recovery scans. I selected the most exhaustive mode, Deep Scan, to maximize my chances of file recovery. Deep Scan supports a huge number of file signatures—357 at last count—and uses something called signature analysis to find files based upon their structure. This enables the utility to reconstruct and retrieve files that might not otherwise be accessible.

To its credit, CleverFiles acknowledges that people with SSD-powered PCs are unlikely to recover deleted files. The issue is a command called TRIM, which zeroes out the parts of the drive where deleted files were stored. By clearing sectors that are no longer in use, TRIM extends the lifespan of a SSD, but it also greatly reduces the efficacy of data recovery utilities. There is, however, a possibility that utilities can retrieve recently deleted files. According to the FAQ: "If your OS did not initiate this request (due to an error, or power failure, or delayed CPU response), the sectors containing deleted data will stay readable to Disk Drill, and data may still be recovered." I opted to test both an SSD and HDD because of the challenges solid-state drives present for data recovery software.

Data Recovery

Running a Deep Scan on my SSD was fast—less than 40 minutes in total. The utility identified 34 files and 30 reconstructed files, about as good as any utility managed with my SSD. Of those files, Disk Drill mainly identified preference and extension files (plist and pss), though it did recover seven PNG images. I was unable to recover any of the files I intentionally deleted.

Running a Deep Scan on my HDD was much slower but much more fruitful. The scan required almost two days, though I would add that the drive is heavily fragmented, and that I ran the utility alongside three others. The results were exhaustive. Disk Drill retrieved a very respectable 67,000 files and 172,000 reconstructed files.

I cannot imagine browsing all those results without Disk Drill's advanced filtering. In addition to filtering by file type, CleverFiles lets you sort by size (ranging from kilobytes to gigabytes) and deletion date (from days to years). Matched with integrated search, these filters eliminate guesswork. For example, searching for "DOC" and filtering for documents below 128 kilobytes and deleted in the past year, I winnowed tens of thousands of results to 23. After I located the document I intentionally deleted, I clicked a Recover button, which prompted me to save the file to a different destination folder. I selected my desktop, and voilà, I retrieved my original document.

I'm happy to report that I was able to retrieve all the files I had intentionally deleted. I lost some file names, but I found that by sorting by file type and deletion date, and using the integrated preview (Mac OS X Quick Look), I was able to identify originals without too much difficulty.

While my testing focused on recovering popular files from a single partition, I would remiss if I didn't add that Disk Drill can scan and recover other partitions, such as a Windows Boot Camp partition or Apple's Recovery partition.

Additional Features

Disk Drill includes a host of other features. One distinguishing feature is iOS Data Recovery, which can help you retrieve data that's recently been deleted (typically no longer than 14 days). Because iOS Recovery relies upon iTunes backups, you must sync devices with your desktops if you expect to recover anything. For those who rely upon iCloud backup, the utility will gain an iCloud Recovery feature soon, according to a CleverFiles technician. Plus, Disk Drill can access most Android devices.

Disk Drill includes a feature called Disk Health, a S.M.A.R.T. monitoring menu item that visualizes the health and usage of a drive. I only used the tool to confirm the health of my SSD (which thankfully registered a healthy 92 percent wear level), though CleverFiles deserves praise for including a feature that's rarely bundled with other data recovery utilities. For example, Prosoft sells a separate, (admittedly richer) optimization tool, Drive Genius.

Clean Up and Duplicate Finder help identify and remove bloated applications and files. Unlike the uninstaller AppZapper, which analyzes an application to remove all its tentacles, Clean Up simply removes the application file. While it's a nice add-on, I'm not convinced the feature does anything I can't do manually. Duplicate Finder lets you select and scan a folder for space-wasting duplicates. For example, when I processed my Pictures folder, I located a couple dozen duplicates, several of which I opted to delete. Bolder users can also apply rules to automatically retain a newer or older version of a file.

If you have a flash drive (2GB or larger), you can also create a bootable Recovery Drive, similar to Prosoft Data Rescue 4's BootWell feature. While it's a valuable add-on, if my Mac wouldn't boot properly I would opt for Alsoft's premier recovery utility, the Editors' Choice award-winning DiskWarrior 5.

Disk Drill also bundles features to protect a drive against future data loss. First, you can create a byte-for-byte copy of a drive using Data Backup. Backing up my SSD to an external USB 3.0 drive required several hours, which isn't surprising given that the utility created a 120GB DMG file. By enabling Data Protection, you can safeguard against future data loss. The feature doesn't work retrospectively; that is, you need to install the utility prior to losing data. Disk Drill offers two modes of data protection: Guaranteed Recovery, which safeguards particular folders (e.g. Documents), and Recovery Vault, which protects the disk. Unfortunately for people using PCs with solid-state drives, Recovery Vault is only available if TRIM is disabled, ill-advised given that the command extends to the life of SSDs.

Peace of Mind

Disk Drill Pro is an excellent choice for data recovery on HDD-based Macs. In addition to vast file signature support, CleverFiles offers one of the best sets of filters to pare down results, which is hugely important when browsing tens of thousands of files. It also comes packed with useful features related to data protection. While Disk Drill can repair Mac volumes, the utility is no replacement for veteran DiskWarrior when it comes to rebuilding directories. If you need an in-house recovery lab, you may gravitate toward offerings from Seagate and Prosoft. However, traditional consumers would be hard-pressed to find a more effective, feature-rich data recovery utility.

About the Author

As a contributing editor, William Fenton specializes in research and education software. In addition to his role at PCMag.com, William is also a Teaching Fellow and Director of the Writing Center at Fordham University Lincoln Center. To learn more about his research interests, visit his homepage or follow him on Academia.edu, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

CleverFiles Disk Drill Pro (for...

CleverFiles Disk Drill Pro (for Mac)

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